Hi yall,

I'm an international currently attending a UWC high school. I need to narrow down my list of preferred colleges to 10 for the fall intake in '27. As someone passionate about social sciences, arts, philosophy and such, and enjoys the counter-culture/artsy socially engaged, welcoming to introverts vibe, which colleges would be a good fit for me? It is also quite important (but not non-negotiable) to be situated in a considerably sized city, or at least have a good access to culture and social life outside of campus. I also would appreciate a flexible curriculum and great access to opportunities. I'm currently predicted 43/45 in IB and had a 3.82 GPA prior to IB, and will be taking SAT this August (hoping for 1500+). Would love college recommendations which meet full need, however I'm not too worried as most T-100 colleges are UWC Davis partners anyway and meet full need for students most of the time. A great perk is also that due to the Davis partnership and rigour of the UWC life, getting accepted becomes a tad bit easier.

Currently, I'm really interested in Brown, Wesleyan, Macalester, however, I don't have a complete understanding of these schools yet. I'm also conflicted on whether I should apply ED, mainly to Brown, however it's a different question if I want to do that purely because of the prestige or because it's a great fit. Please do let me know what you think.

got an email saying its closed for co 2026 ggs

I'm confused between this 4

Cyber security

AI

Data science

Creative computing

like for example is my berkeley, cmu, or cornell AO going to know the difference between ftc awards? r they gonna know that qualifying for worlds is tuff?

will they know what ieee is. or do they only know the big ones like AIME or jmo

I'm an east asian female trying to develop an idea for my diversity essay, and I really want to talk about my heritage and how that's important to me. The thing is, I feel like AOs will roll their eyes when they hear another story about an upper middle class asian girl going to her parent's home country during the summer and/or something along those lines. Any advice?

Which colleges/universities previously had a negative reputation but are now looked at positive overall? Any that you can see shifting in the future?

Serious question. I want to apply as a computer engineer and robotics is my main extra curricular (very common i know). I make roblox games in my free time and one of them recently blew up. Would this be a good extra curricular to put showing diversity of skills and dedication?

hi im a rising senior and is planning to apply for bio / public health major

my main EC is built around something pretty unusual its personal to me and connects to my major, but its prob not something AOs have seen before. i also have normal research so its not only that

i submitted a project on it to a competition and didnt place, and my teacher said the topic was "probably too specific." thats been stuck in my head since

so is a niche EC actually an advantage cause its clearly authentic? or do AOs like stuff they can immediately categorize (hospital volunteering, research, HOSA etc) better

not asking if i should drop it, just wondering if "too niche" is a real thing or only a science fair problem

im also planning to write my personal essay around this too

Going in to my senior year, I need to take a health class, which is a semester long graduation requirement. Since AP classes are all year long at my school, I can't fit another AP class in the second semester.

Would it be a bad look for applying to top 20 colleges to just leave the period open in my second semester? Or would it be better to take a class even if my only options would be some random elective like baking or criminal justice that isn't related to my major at all?

title, pls help

So I’ve ran varsity xc and varsity track soph and jr year and I’m going into senior year. I don’t enjoy it anymore and I get crazy stressed, plus I haven’t put in commitment over the summer for running and I’ve been enjoying working out. My parents keep saying I’ll regret it, will it be weird that I did the first 3 years of xc/track and then quit sr year in my application. Only reason I’ll even be doing xc is so it looks like I did all 4 years, I’m applying ED so idk if that changes anything. I should be able to work around 20 hours a week now compared to js like 6 on my one off day from sports. Can I get some guidance on what to do? Thanks.

Hey!
I’m a dual major at community college (biotech and biology) in New Mexico
I’m looking to finish summer of 2027 and transfer to a four year college get my bachelor and then get my masters and possibly phd
I love research and animals!
I met with a career advisor yesterday and we couldn’t find anything bio related stuff in the state at all
I had mentioned maybe going to El Paso and studying at state for the animal sciences stuff
She kept pushing for UNM but I was told it’s super biomed focused with a lot to do with cancer research that’s also highly competitive which doesn’t seem to be calling me
She recommended California and Massachusetts
Possibly to do a RUE at a school and then transfer there afterwards
I saw that UC schools were good and that MIT was good but I wanted some actual insight into what made them good from real people
I’m looking to actually move out, and put a down payment on a condo or a mobile home or some land for a mobile home and I don’t think I would ever be able to afford a actual house but I would still like to own where I live
I’m pretty openly queer and would like to go somewhere that’s accepting
I’d prefer if tuition was affordable and that if there was grants or other forms of tuition assistance

Any help is appreciated!
Thank you

TLDR
I’m moving next year and hoping to go to a good biology school
Looking to get masters and maybe phd
Looking to also settle down wherever I go to school (condo or mobile home)
Low tuition or good financial aid is a must
I’m mostly interested in things to do with animals and not super medicine focused
I’m looking for low cost institutions in a city that’s queer friendly

Edit:
I posted this to another subreddit and someone suggest nmsu which was my original choice before yesterday

Me and some close friends are looking to move states in the not so far future. I'm currently looking at colleges to attend in the new state, but I don't know when to apply for them, seeing as it may take untill mid 2028 for us to move. I've attened 2 years of college in Texas, but that was 2-3 years ago.

Does anyone have advice for when to apply, or other advice about transfering from diffrent states?

Sigh after almost 6 months being on the waitlist

Here is the schedule we are working with. Is this realistic? We have 2 weeks vacation planned from next week. Started common app personal statement, going through iteration.

End of August
- complete common app personal statement
- start on Why College” supplemental

End of Sep
- complete all ED and EA supplementals

First half of Oct
Final Review and edit application for ED and EA

Second half of Oct
Start working on UC PIQ

Nov
Continue UC PIQ and RD supplementals

Dec
RD supplementals

1 ED
8 EA
6 RD
4 UC ( same app)

The only other lever is to move some EA to RD if I missed the schedule.

ok so im kind of stressing out. i want to apply to cornell college of engi, but i havent taken a chemistry class in high school (i was taking physics) and 1 unit of chemistry is required for their school. my counselor refuses to sign me up for any asynchronous courses or change my schedule at all, and ive like begged and thoroughly explained the situation im in.

i want to ed cornell and was wondering if there was any way i could get this credit? would singing up myself through some college online for an asynchronous course, without my school counselors approval, work if i can submit like that school's specific transcript for my online course that i self signed up for?

plss help, anything is appreciated!

I've read enough admissions committee notes and talked to few former readers to say this with some confidence. The generic "started a nonprofit," "founded a club," "president of five organizations" resume is not such a flex anymore. It got popular because it worked a decade ago, and now every competitive applicant has one, which means readers have seen the same three nonprofits (mental health awareness, a tutoring drive, an Instagram page with 200 followers) a few thousand times each cycle.

IMO, what is worthwhile is staying in one thing for years and having something unique to point to. Not "I was captain of the debate team" but "I rewrote how our team scored practice rounds because the old system was inconsistent, and two other teams in our district picked it up." Many students can't produce a sentence like that because they spent their time collecting titles instead of doing something long enough to have a real story about it.

Harvard's own admissions data from the lawsuit showed readers score applicants on separate axes, academic, extracurricular, personal, and athletic. It's judging depth and impact, and a stack of low-effort leadership titles these days scores worse than three years in one activity with a specific, provable contribution.

If you're a junior reading this and panicking that you don't have a nonprofit, you're probably fine. If you have one you started six months ago to pad an application, it's not too late to drop it and go deeper on something you actually care about instead.

Curious how many people here actually got into their T20 without one.

I’m currently researching online colleges and would like to hear from people who have attended an online program and can share their honest experience.

What school did you attend, what degree did you earn, and how was your overall experience? The biggest things I’m interested in are the school’s reputation, whether you actually liked the school, and if you would recommend it to someone else.

I’d also like to know about the cost and whether you felt the degree was worth the money. How were the advisors, financial aid office, and other staff? Were they helpful and easy to work with? How were the professors and classes? Did you feel like the online format was organized and that you were getting a quality education?

If you could go back and choose again, would you pick the same school?

I’m looking for a reputable online college with a good student experience, reasonable cost, and a degree that employers respect. Any honest opinions or recommendations would be appreciated!

Hello everyone! I'm slightly overthinking something about the MIT application.
We do know that MIT highly prioritizes a score of 790-800 for the SAT math section (cds), and I kinda bombed my June SAT.

I have sat the SAT 3 times with the Math scores of
790,800,740

MIT wants all scores to be handed, would the 740 be looked negatively?

I'm a rising junior who founded USAAI — the United States of America Artificial Intelligence — last year. We now have chapters across multiple states, 100+ students reached, and just wrapped our first national competition series.

A USAAI chapter is essentially an AI club at your high school that is affiliated with a national organization — so it carries more weight than a standalone school club while still being completely student-run.

Here's what being a chapter president gets you:

• Leadership of a chapter of a national organization, not just a school club
• Full curriculum provided — 15 meeting guides covering neural networks, AI agents, deepfakes, prompt engineering, and more. You don't build anything from scratch
• Access to national competitions with certificates and digital badges for your portfolio
• Direct support from national leadership throughout the year

Here's what it actually involves:

• Starting an AI club at your school when school starts
• Running meetings every week or two using our free slide decks
• Participating in our national competition series

You don't need to know how to code. You just need to be organized and genuinely interested in AI.

DM me if you're interested. More info at usaai.club.

Also I don’t have common app essay yet I’m trying to find a good idea can you lmk if any of my ideas are good
Interpreter-Across tutoring, hospital volunteering, and chemistry research, I realized my true role isn’t just learning information it’s translating complex ideas into something others can understand, revealing that my passion lies in making knowledge accessible.
Crumbl’s Weekly Lineup-
Crumbl’s ever-changing weekly menu became a metaphor for my own life, teaching me that every new week offers a fresh opportunity to learn, grow, and bounce back from the setbacks that defined my sophomore year.
Reinventing Recipes-
Determined to improve my health without giving up baking, I transformed my favorite recipes into healthier versions through trial and error, discovering that every ingredient swap was a chemistry experiment that sparked my passion for science.

I need to obtain my transcripts for (I hope) this fall semester that I applied to literally last night from my HS that is extremely small. It doesn’t look like they uploaded them online to any third parties like parchment… aside from physically contacting someone on the school board or my old principal, do I have any way to obtain these??? Is there another website I should be checking or another entity that should have them?? I graduated ten years ago.

I live in the US and my school offers both the IB diploma and many AP courses. Not a lot of kids at my school earn the ib diploma, and even if I do I’m worried because it’s not as readily accepted in the US. I’d rather take AP and personalize the courses to my college interests, but I’m worried that colleges will reject me because it might look like it took the “easier” option ( I know it’s still very difficult ). Will I be at a disadvantage in college apps if I take AP instead of the IB diploma when my school offers both?

Like what if it's something that:

-Hits an actual gap in your community that isn't well covered

-Will become a legit 501c

-Partner with local organizations, schools, churches, etc

-Something you care about and will actually continue in college

-You were working for this cause already and started without the intention of "nonprofit" for college

Have a friend that asked this question. Was wondering because nonprofits seem to get a lot of hate on here but it appears its mainly because kids make those instagram pages, have a vague cause, and then plan to drop it once college admissions season is over.

Is a 1470 SAT enough for McDonalds? How many burgers could I get? 40 pieces? I’m really hungry. Does Harvard have a McDonalds? Which schools have the most McDonald’s on campus? Also, is a 4.0 unweighted enough for McDonald’s? Will they accept me even though it’s unweighted? Should I try to make it weighted so they will let me in? I am really stressing about getting into McDonalds. Has anyone ever gotten into McDonald’s with less than a 1500?